L'Oréal

L’Oréal is the world’s largest cosmetics group, operating in over 150 countries with a vast portfolio of beauty, skincare, and haircare brands. Its market dominance has come with repeated exposure of systemic harm across supply chains and political entanglements.

In 2024, a BBC Panorama investigation revealed children as young as five harvesting jasmine for L’Oréal’s fragrance suppliers in Egypt. While the company later joined a remediation program with the Egyptian government and the Fair Labor Association, there has been no independent verification that the practice has ended.

Independent laboratory tests have also detected PFAS “forever chemicals” in L’Oréal products, despite the company’s pledge to phase them out by the end of 2024—a promise that remains unverified. Its palm oil sourcing continues to be linked to deforestation through suppliers flagged by Greenpeace and other NGOs, raising questions about the credibility of its “Sustainable Palm Index.” L’Oréal also sells in markets such as China, where imported cosmetics are subject to animal testing requirements.

Politically, the company deepened ties with Israel after settling a $1.4 million U.S. case in the mid-1990s over allegations it had complied with the Arab League boycott of Israel. Following the settlement, L’Oréal apologised to the Anti-Defamation League and committed to expanding in Israel. L’Oréal Israel now operates a factory in Migdal Ha’Emek, on land belonging to the Palestinian village of al-Mujaydil, and manufactures Dead Sea mineral products. In 2008, the company further strengthened ties by awarding a $100,000 prize to a scientist at the Weizmann Institute, an institution linked to Israeli military research and subject to academic boycott.